Missionary Bishop - Who would have thought!!

My journey to Madgascar

Welcome to my first Substack article! I’m Darrell Critch, a Newfoundlander who has recently moved (with my wife and teenage son) to Madagascar where I serve as a Missionary Bishop in Mahajanga. In this, the first of a series of articles, I will share about my experiences as Missionary Bishop in Madagascar.

I’m especially grateful to my colleague (and friend) David Roseberry for suggesting this outlet as a means of helping me keep in touch with people at home so that you can more intentionally pray for me and Sarah and Chase.

How Did I End Up in Madagascar

Perhaps I should begin by explaining how I got to be here in Madagascar. In case some of you reading this are unaware, I was recently elected the Bishop of Mahajanga. Last year I had the great privilege of representing the Anglican Church in North America at the international gathering in Cairo of the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans. While on a break there, Bishop Bill Atwood quite surprisingly asked me if I would consider letting my name stand for election as the Bishop of Mahajanga, Madagascar. I had no idea where Mahajanga was, and only knew that Madagascar was an island off Africa….but honestly, I couldn’t place it on a map! Bishop Attwood went on to describe what the Diocese of Mahajanga was like and especially some of its needs.

The Context of Mahajanga

The diocese is a part of the Anglican Province of the Indian Ocean, where Archbishop James Wong is the Primate. Archbishop James was at the same meeting in Cairo, as was Bishop Gilbert, a Malagasy bishop. These bishops, together with the provincial chancellor, and provincial secretary met with me to discuss the possibility of my serving in the Indian Ocean.

They described the unique challenges and opportunities in Mahajanga. Madagascar is the eighth poorest country in the world, and Mahajanga is one of its poorest regions. 25% of Madagascar is Muslim, and 20 of the 25% of Muslims live in Mahajanga. They described the Christians in Mahajanga as very poor, but ‘high church and joyously evangelical’. As they described the situation for the working poor, I began to sense that maybe (crazy as it sounded) just maybe, this was something I was supposed to do! But how could I tell my wife??!!

Convincing My Wife!

I texted Sarah, my wife, and raised the outlandish idea that maybe we were being called to Madagascar. She was shocked at the idea but promised that she would pray. I asked her to pray for clarity - I’m not great at discernment - so we prayed that the Lord would make it REALLY clear, if this was something He wanted us to do.

Not fifteen minutes after my prayer with Sarah, I happened to bump into the present Bishop of the Diocese of Sabah, Malaysia. I thanked him for the experience I had in his diocese as a theological student on a mission trip. I had spent two months Sabah as a guest of Archbishop Yong Ping Chung, the bishop and primate at the time. I explained that Yong Ping Chung has been a student in Newfoundland, and it was that historic connection which caused me to go on a mission trip to Sabah. As soon as I mentioned Newfoundland, Canada the Bishop asked if I had happened to know a Newfoundland priest who had served as a missionary in Sabah. Father Rusted just happened to be my high school chaplain, so we chatted him. Unbeknownst to the Bishop of Sabah that I had 15 minutes earlier been asked to consider being a missionary Bishop in Mahajanga, he went on to describe the generational influence of a Newfoundlander who served faithfully as a missionary overseas. The bishop described Father Rusted’s positive influence as a missionary, not fifteen minutes after I was asked to consider allowing my name to stand for election as a missionary Bishop in Madagascar! Such intriguing timing!! This was the first of many ‘signs’ that the Lord gave to me and to my wife as we discerned the call of God to leave the comforts of our western life and move to Madagascar.

Our God Will Go Before Us

We leave behind a parish that we planted together 16 years ago when we were called out of the Anglican Church of Canada. We leave behind our family and friends. We leave behind beloved parishioners with whom I have ministered for 25 years. We leave behind my salary – as a missionary I will rely on the benevolence of Christians to provide for our needs, and of those of the diocese. We will be apart from each other for significant periods of time (there is no high school in Mahajanga for our son to attend!) They will spend Christmas, Easter and summers with me in Madagascar.

But we also know that the Lord will go before us, and he will provide for us, and for the diocese. These have been an extraordinary few months - something of an emotional rollercoaster. As you read this post, (and the ones which will follow) I hope that you will pray for me, for my wife Sarah, and our fourteen-year-old son, Chase. All glory of Jesus!